Forgiveness
by Grey Streaked Fur
Summary: AOA universe. Forgiveness is a mutant.  She is not persecuted for being x gene positive, but because of who her father is...
1. Introduction and whatnot

A/N:Just some story I decided to run with it... I'm unsure whether to continue or not, so I guess reviews will sway my decision either way.

AOA is so much fun...enjoy.

I don't own Marvel...well neither does Stan Lee now. Way to be enslaved by the Mouse, Stan.

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><p>Forgiveness is an action; something that separates a strong person from the crowds of weaklings. You need courage and strength to forgive someone, especially when you know they don't deserve it. It is a rather proficient quality to have.<p>

But, in my most humble opinion, it is certainly not a suitable name. If my dearest late mother had wanted me to be named after a virtue she could have picked something a little less ridiculous; such as Hope or Joy. Oh, it's not like I care terribly, a name is just a tag used by others as a solution to identifying their peers.

Whether I have a name or not matters little in this world anyways, as long as I keep on my toes and sustain my basic needs, I will survive. And that means something, if only to myself.

All I wanted at the moment was for this little brat that I was holding to quit crying. I found him whimpering and crying crocodile tears on Woodward, or what used to be Woodward. He must have wandered off from his community, his folks and the whole lot of them must be searching for him. He cried even harder when he saw me, even when I spoke in my most quiet, soothing voice. He must have been told about the Shadow Beast, and what she did to innocent children.

"It's okay kid, I'm going to help you find your family," I cooed , hoping he would calm down a bit before I carried him over to the shadows, but instead he started screaming bloody murder. I covered his mouth before pulling him in with me.

His screams echoed through the shadow world, causing my oh-so-sensitive ears to pound. I seriously debated taping his annoying chasm shut, but I managed to get him to quiet down by humming.

It was dark on earth, so traveling by shadow was easy, much easier than taking care of this kid. I carried the kid down Woodward, trying to see the chalky outlines of his community. In the distance, I could make out a large fire. It appeared as a brilliant white, flowing blob, the world of darkness moved around it, always keeping its distance from sources of light. As we neared the white hot figures of humans were seen moving about the fire, this had to be the child's community.

Slowly, I approached a line where the shadow world touched the light of the fire, holding the boy at arm's length, I slowly pushed him through the veil, his screams now entering his world and leaving my own, bringing back the bliss silence. He was in their hands now; I knew he would be taken care of.

I walked away before the community came rushing to the boy's aid.

I followed the path that was once known as Woodward Avenue, the remains of the city of Detroit surrounded me. It hadn't been a city for a long time, thirty seven years in fact, way longer than I have been alive, back when this land mass was the United States, before Apocalypse had taken over…. But even his reign ended when I was just a kid.

Now, it's just every man for himself.

My home is about seventeen miles from the city, but I reached it in a matter of minutes, traveling by shadow tends to get me places quite fast.

Home for me is the basement of a decaying house, one with a caved in roof and no glass occupying the windows, but it is secluded and cozy, just the way I like it.

In the comfort of my own home I remove myself from the shadows and crash on my futon. The sun would be coming up soon, and that was enough incentive to send me to bed.


	2. Here comes the setup

A/N: I just wanted to let you all know that this follows the original storyline (with a few tweaks) and does not follow the AOA 10 year anniversary story line at all. (If any of you haven't read it, you probably should, I really liked it, maybe you will as well.

I certainly don't own Marvel. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about affording college.

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><p>I jolted awake at the sound of movement. My sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone working their way around up stares. I though it odd, most people scavenge houses before winter, not in the early spring.<p>

I glanced at my watch: it was four in the afternoon. I rolled my eyes and silently cursed them; I like sleeping and dislike being awake before twilight. I sat there quietly, hoping they would just move on, praying they didn't come downstairs.

But of course; like the rest of the world, God also hates me, so naturally the exact opposite of what I wished for happened.

With an inwards groan I quickly jumped into the shadow world just as the door opened.

The first thing that hit me was the metallic smell of blood. I shifted around uneasily; blood was never a good thing. I slowly drifted towards the person to get a better look.

The person was male, somewhere in his mid twenties, not much older than myself. His pale features we covered in scratches and his blond hair was coated with dirt. The blood was steadily dripping from his thigh. I didn't need to get any closer to tell he had been stabbed.

The man gazed around the room for a moment before he locked eyes with me. I froze, terrified at the prospect of him being able to see me in the shadow world, but my fears were quickly set aside when he spoke.

"Please, help me," he breathed, falling to his knees with pain.

I'm not one for trusting people, but I never back away from someone in need of medical attention. I quickly emerged from the shadows to aid him.

Due to my natural strength, I was able to move him onto my futon without too many complications, and then rushed to my supply closet to retrieve all the necessary items to fix his wound. After returning to the bed, I helped him remove his pants to manage the cut.

The entire time I cleaned his wound; he thanked me profusely and never once made a comment on my appearance. This stranger didn't seem to have a clue who I was, and I was very thankful for that. I repeatedly told him it was no problem but refused to look up at him; there aren't many occasions where one can just strip a guy down to his boxers without implying a sexual situation and I feared that I would blush if I made further eye contact.

After I finished the cleaning wound I informed him what I needed to do next.

"This is going to need to be sutured and it will _not _be a pleasant feeling."

"It's alright, I understand. Just do what you have to."

"I don't have anything to numb the area, but I do have some alcohol and a few of these." I continued, holding up a small container of ibuprofen.

His eyes widened with surprise.

"I couldn't possibly use those! How were you able to get a hold of them anyway?"

I honestly can say I was not astonished by his reaction; pain killers of any sort were very hard to come by nowadays.

"I have my ways." Mainly just threatening a few sellers in the black market, they don't usually have much, but some are better than none at all, and some stealing, I don't take pride in my actions, but I don't regret anything either.

"Well, I won't take them. Medicine should be used for dire emergencies, not something like this."

I raised an eyebrow; he had lost a good amount of blood and that was enough of emergency in my opinion, also I had to sew up that wound and I didn't want to hear him scream out in pain the entire time.

"Comply, or I'll shove them down that chasm you dub a mouth," I growled and bared my fangs in moderate irritation.

He gave me quite the sour expression but eventually he reached out and carefully took a pill from my open hand. I continued to compress the wound for a bit to wait for the medicine to kick in. After a couple of minutes, I pulled out a clean, curved needle from my kit and my role of silk thread.

"Alright, brace yourself," I warned him, holding the needle to his flesh.

He closed his eyes.

After I finished stitching and bandaging the puncture, I let him rest on my bed. He was leaning his head on the arm of the futon, his mouth open ever so slightly. His once dirty face had been cleaned up, revealing the fact that he was pretty damn attractive.

I mentally slapped myself, I felt like such a stalker for staring at him while he snoozed, so to distract myself, I made something for us to eat. It was still rather chilly outside, and so I heated up a can of soup for us to share, all the while cursing my hormones for interrupting my usually logical thoughts. But I digress; it's not like I'm completely used to half naked guys on my bed.

"That smells good!"

I jumped a little, surprised that he was actually still awake, but I quickly recovered.

"It's not much; just soup. Would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

I retrieved some bowls and silverware from the small cupboard, and poured some soup in each. Making sure to give him more than myself, after all, he needed it more than I did. I walked over and placed them on the bedside table.

"Mmmmm….tomato," He smiled, eagerly talking the bowl into his hands. As he ate, I pulled up a chair to the other side of the table and sat down.

The meal was very quiet, due to the fact he was starving and I'm not skilled at simple conversation. When I was ready to say something, I waited until he had finished his food.

"I believe it wise to stay here until you are able to walk properly," I announced, my voice echoed through the basement.

To my surprise, he didn't argue with me, "If that is what you think is best, though I don't want to become a burden," he said.

"Don't worry about it."

"Alright…..err," he smiled sheepishly, reveling his nearly perfect teeth, "Might I ask what your name is?"

I gave him a concerned look; it was breaking taboo to give out your name to a complete stranger. You never knew if it would come back to haunt you. I thought about it, before coming up with a trade.

"Okay, I'll give you my name, but only if you explain to me how you were able to see me when you first arrived."

"Gladly," he said. "I'm telepathic; I could sense where you were, even though physically I couldn't see you. It's also how I knew someone was living here in the first place."

When he saw the evident anger in my expression he continued, "Trust me, my family raised me to never use my ability to invade others privacy, I wouldn't read your mind without permission."

"You must have quite the family."

"You have no idea."

I thought about it, and as I did I had the sensation that if I did, my future was going to change drastically.

"My name's Forgiveness, though I tend to favor Ness."

I held out my hand, properly greeting myself. He took it into his own, ignoring the sharp claws on my fingers.

"Nice to meet you Ness, I'm Charles."

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><p>AN take 2: Also, I do like reviews, even critiquing. So if you see any mistakes or have question, comments or even ideas. I will most certainly appreciate them.

Peace out!


	3. character development

A/N: I don't own Marvel or anything...

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><p>I haven't lived with another person in over eleven years, and after slipping into a rather nocturnal lifestyle, I was unsure I could get adjusted to the extra body, good looking or otherwise.<p>

I grossly underestimated the amount of time it took others to heal, I nearly forgot that my system has a faster recovery factor than humans and many mutants. I figured he would be on his way in a few day, possibly a week. After two weeks I wondered if he was ever going to depart. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoyed his company, but it was peculiar all the same.

Even though it was taking awhile for him to heal, Charles did everything he could to help out; offering to cook, clean, and even voluntarily changed his sleeping pattern to match my own. There were nights we would talk until the sun began to rise, other evenings we hardly interacted, enjoying our time alone.

Tonight we decided to enjoy the outdoors by laying in the weedy grass that was once a backyard. The grasshoppers had just recently become active, giving the world around us natures harmony that had been silent for months. The clear night sky revealed to be a fresh topic for us to discuss. Hours went by as we observed the constellations.

" Oh, theres Castor and Pollux," Charles pointed to the two brightly shining stars.

"Ah, Gemini. The twins."

"I always forget which one is which though..."

"Does it really matter?" I asked before I stretched and shifted into a more comfortable position.

There was a long pause, I uneasily glanced at him, hoping I hadn't insulted him or anything. He was just gazing, his eyes glazed over like he was in deep thought. I returned my gaze back up, unsure what else to do. An insect landed on my arm and I smacked it away.

"My mother used to take me outside sometimes to look at the stars," Charles said abruptly, causing me to give a nervous twitch. I gave myself a moments recovery before responding. Not only was his timing alarming, but so was his statement. I had never heard another person talk about such intimate things, did he put too much trust into people? Or was it just me?

"Hmmm...thats nice."

'Thats nice?' I had never insulted my vast vocabulary more, but what else could I say to such subject?

" That was a long time ago, I miss being with her, and my father."

I tensed up at those words. The word father was a very sensitive subject with me. I have never meet my father, and never want to.

I jumped up suddenly, wishing I was anywhere but here. Charles sat up slowly, massaging his leg as he did so, as not to rip his stitches.

"I'm sorry," Charles said quietly "I didn't mean to make things awkward."

"Don't worry about it," I mumbled. "I'm just retiring for the day."

Sure enough, the sliver of morning light was peeking up from the east. With that, I headed for the house, leaving Charles in the grass.


	4. Yey, plot!

A/N: So, like I said earlier, this is my alternate ending to what happened after the 1995 AOA series finished. So I guess you could say it's AU...but whatever.

Disclaimer: I don't own any X-men character (with the exception of Ness), I just enjoy playing with their characters.

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><p>The next evening, I escaped the confinement of the dank basement to gather food from the market, and unfortunately, it usually meant stealing. I couldn't afford to show my face anywhere, even the most busiest of areas, the last thing I wanted was an outbreak of angry humans and mutants hunting me down again.<p>

Charles stayed in the basement, and I will admit I was a bit hesitant leaving a person I knew little about alone in my home, but for better or worse, I kind of had to trust him since he was still recovering. The question of what events lead to him being stabbed had been on the tip of my tongue the past few days but because of taboo and the uncomfortable conversation last night, I didn't really see an opportune moment.

I disappeared into the shadows, ready to spend the night shopping.

I returned in less than an hour.

Distraught, I emerged from the shadows and flopped onto the bed, not giving a rats ass as to what Charles thought. Charles looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows into an expression similar to concern and fear.

"Why are you back so early? Why didn't you get anything?"

I let out a heavy sigh before answering.

"It's gone."

Charles sat up in his chair quickly, clearly shocked. "Gone, completely?"

"Yes," I mumbled, burring my face into the pillows. The market was gone, it was bound to happen at some point, it is a common occurrence in this country. Sometimes markets would just close down without warning, usually due to a lack of food or other supplies. It has happened here before but usually there is still a few local stands open, giving us evidence that it would re-open soon. Tonight, though, there was nothing there. The fear now was not knowing how long it would take to open again, if it ever opened again.

No market meant no food, and no food meant either constant struggling or moving on, and neither seemed desirable.

"How much food do you have left?" Charles asked, slowly getting out of his chair and hobbling over towards me.

"Less than a weeks worth for the both of us," I said after I calculated our supplies mentally. "and that is if we only consume a meal and a half a day."

Charles sat down beside me, waiting a few minutes before he spoke.

"I think this would be an appropriate time for me to leave."

I turned to glare at him. "No, you are not ready to travel yet, your leg still needs time to recover before I can remove the stitches," I argued, not wanting him to depart is such a condition.

"I have traveled in worse conditions before, I will be alright."

I gave an agitated growl then quickly covered my mouth, embarrassed by my uncivilized reaction, but it did not deter me from the fact I was annoyed by his obnoxious protagonist ways.

"I will not allow a patient of mine to leave on his own without a clean bill of health."

Charles gave me a genuine smile as his face glowed a slightly reddish color.

"Then come with me."

This time I sat straight up, unsure whether he was joking or not. He saw the confused look on my face but his smile only seemed to grow larger.

"Seriously," he said "come with me, back home there is plenty of-"

"No." I cut in, not wanting to hear it.

"Ness, just list-"

"Dammit, I said no."

"My family won't mind, please-"

"Yes, they will mind!" I shouted, my anger getting the best of me, "People mind my very existence! I don't know what hole you were raised in, but obviously you have no 'effin idea who I am! Even if I wanted to accompany you, I just can't. Trust me, you don't want people to know you are associated with the likes of me."

Charles smile had now faded into a grimace, he looked at me, sorrow evident in his gaze.

"I never said I didn't know who you were."

This shocked me to the point I was unable to vocalize anything. I just stared at him, my mouth slightly agape, not unlike a fish. So he did know about me, he knew the rumors and stories about me, yet he never once seemed fearful of me, never tried to hurt me, and wasn't scared by my appearance or demeanor. He treated me like a person, like I wasn't a monster or even the daughter of one.

"I have heard awful things about the Shadow Beast," Charles said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "but the 'monster' I have met has to be one of the most caring people I know, not many people would go out of their way to help a stranger, especially in a situation like your's."

I sat there frozen as he embraced me, my body was unused to such physical contact, and I could feel myself blush. After a moment I awkwardly hugged him back. I haven't had a hug in years, not since I was little. He gave me another smile and continued.

"I grew up learning to judge people on their actions and nothing else, and I find it wrong that people condemn you solely on the acts of your father."

I cringed as I did the night before on the word father, and pushed myself away from him, unable to look him in the eye at the moment for fear my emotions would get the best of me. Instead I gazed down at my clawed hands, a phenotype I obviously inherited from..._him._

"My family is very accepting, and they'll love you the moment they get to know you, I'm sure of it."

I took a deep breath.

"You think?"

"Definitely."

Maybe it was the fact that I knew there was little reason to continue living here, or the fact Charles was sweet talking me, or it could have possibly been the fleeting hope that people would accept me, that I could be part of a group; a luxury I never really got to have. But, whatever the reason, I finally said yes.

Charles seem quite happy after I agreed to accompany him home, he helped me pack the remainder of the food and the few thing I had that I refused to leave behind, certain medial books and other textbooks that I avidly studied from. Even his limp didn't seem to slow him down, and I had to remind him on more than one occasion to take it easy.

"Where exactly is your home?" I asked, not looking up from my books as I sorted through which ones I was keeping and ones I was leaving.

"New York, or what's left of it anyway." Charles answers from the pantry, his voice muffled by the enclosed space.

"Near ground B?"

"Yep."

"Wow." I whispered to myself, not many people lived near that area. Nearly seventeen years ago nuclear bombs headed towards what had once been the United States, ready to destroy every living thing on earth. But somehow they had been neutralized, no one knew how or why, but somehow the damage from the bombs was contained into one area: the remains of New York City. (Most of the city is nothing but flat land now.) The entire planet owed their lives to whoever or whatever stopped them.

"So we may be able to leave in the next few days." Charles said as he finished placing all the food in a large bag. "And that should take about two weeks, longer if we only travel at night."

I almost smiled at how funny he was, before I realized he wasn't joking. I almost forgot that he didn't understand exactly what my abilities we capable of.

"We could do it that way," I smirked. "or, we could leave tomorrow and make it there in about two days, unless of course, you're afraid of the dark."

The next night we were packed and ready to go.

Introducing Charles to the shadow world was quite the experience, I watched as he struggled to "walk" and ended up flipping himself upside down.

"You're trying too had to find a surface to move on. There is no floor here, you have to glide. See?" I snorted, sifting through the blackness with easy, my feet barely moving.

"I'm not sure I like it in here." Charles grumbled, falling into a "flying Superman" pose.

"Well then, we'll just have to wait for you to heal before we can start our journey on foot. This is the only way of travel that allows us to leave now that doesn't require you to put any strain on your leg." I commented, enjoying his humorous attempts to stand "upright". In the Shadow world, there was no up or down, there was only space. I gave him my hand and helped him into a standing position.

"No, I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?" I asked retrieving our bags that were casually hovering near us. I glanced back at him to read the expression on his face.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright then," I said, retrieving a length of rope from one of the bags and tied it around my waist.

" Here, fasten the other end around yourself." I requested, tossing him the rest of the rope.

"Why?" He asked looking slightly confused.

"Well, it would be pretty tragic if I lost you now, wouldn't it?" I teased, waiting for him to tie himself up.

After he situated himself, I remembered to mention one last thing.

"You might want to keep a good hold on your backpack."

With that, I pushed off, giving us a good amount of speed. Outlines of fallen buildings and broken telephone polls passed quickly by. I twisted and turned us away from blobs of light formed by fires and people. Charles let out a surprised yelp as we passed right through a wall. Honestly, I couldn't help but laugh. For him, it was new and a bit frightening, but for me, it was the closest thing to happiness I had.

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><p>AN: So, did you like it? Hate it? Notice grammatical errors? Have a superfantastic idea for this story? Don't hesitate to leave a review: I'm all ears, and want to make this the best story I can. Thanks for reading!


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